Sheryl Ann Scott's Cancer Journey

By Robert G. Scott

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Part 2: October - December 2000

1 October 2000

Sheryl's chief surgeon just called to postpone the operation. He wants to run a stress test for her heart first, so every thing is back on hold for about a week. She was happy about postponing the inevitable, I just want to get is over with. I don't sleep well anymore, and during the day I think about what if something goes wrong.

3 October 2000

Sheryl's surgery has been rescheduled for 11 October. The test showed no damage to her heart from the treatment so far - in fact people seemed impressed with how strong it is. Good sign.

11 October 2000

Sheryl made it through her surgery - on the table for nearly 10 hours. She is now in the ICU for about a week. If the stitches hold and no infections set in, and if they got every cancer cell, we will be all right.

12 October 2000

Sheryl is much better today; of course any improvement would be "much better". She was awake and able to smile and talk, but was hurting everywhere. It was hard to look at all the tubes, hoses, and sensor wires covering her.

The first thing I did was check the monitor screen, and everything looked good. The BP was a bit low (110/60), but after a major surgery and completely at rest I expected that. The nurse came in and looked at it, and commented that they had been concerned all night because it was so low - but now it was up. I replied, "Any time I walk into the room, her blood pressure rises."

13 October 2000

Sheryl is doing much better, and has been moved to the ICU Step Down ward - it's a less intensive ICU. Some of the tubes have been removed and she is doing well enough to set up and bitch! Looks good.

14 October 2000

One of Sheryl's doctors just called. Her heart rate is way up and her blood oxygen level is way down. She has contracted pneumonia. They will be taking more CAT scans today in an attempt to find out what is happening, and moving her back to the ICU. She will have assisted breathing. This does not look good, and just when I was beginning to relax for the first time in ten months. The emotional roller coaster ride starts again.

I'm beginning (?) to wonder how much more I can take. I know that what she is going through is far worse than what I am experiencing, but it is wearing on me too. I find myself on the verge of tears several times a day - like right now. I am not used to being in a situation where I am totally helpless; I have always been able to do something to alleviate a problem, but not in this case.

Sheryl took a turn for the worst. Her heart rate is far too high and her blood pressure is far too low. She did develop pneumonia, and a generalized infection. She is swelling because every cell in her body is absorbing water. Her immune system is not responding to the infections because of damage resulting from the chemo and radiation therapy.

The doctors aren't holding out much hope, her prognosis is not good.

15 October 2000

Sheryl rested easy today thanks to sedatives and a morphine drip. She is still being medically supported, but the amount has been cut back. BP and heart rate are nearly stabilized on her own. Her breathing is still supported by machine, but the amount of support has also been cut back.

She is still listed as "guarded but stable", but she hasn't gone down any and there has been a slight improvement. The prognosis remains unchanged.

20 October 2000

She is still listed as guarded but stable. There is improvement, but it is two steps up, one step back. Doctors hope to take her off the ventilator for a while to see how she does. With any luck, and if nothing goes wrong, she might be home in a week.

21 October 2000

Much better today - she was off the ventilator for awhile, and they cut back on the sedation. She was actually aware that I was there! She can't talk yet, as there is a suction tube going down her throat to her stomach to remove any gastric juices and bile. Even though she isn't eating anything yet, the stomach and liver still do their thing.

22 October 2000

I received a call from the hospital last night. It was a very agitated nurse. It went something like this:

Nurse: Me: Nurse: Me: Nurse: Sheryl: Me: Sheryl: Me: Sheryl: Me: Sheryl: Me: Sheryl: Nurse: Me: Nurse:

"Is this Robert Scott" (sounding very distraught) "Yes" (Oh God, what happened.) "Is Sheryl Scott your wife?" "Yes" (It has to be bad!) " Just a minute, she would like to talk to you" (uh?) " Get me out of here NOW!" "Say what?" "I said come and get me, right now." (sounding a bit stoned) " I can't come right now, you're not ready yet" "I'm sick of this place - I want out of here!" "I'll be in tomorrow" "What time do you get off work?" (I haven't worked in nearly a year) " I don't work" "OK" (Very slurred, sound of telephone dropping) " She wanted to talk to you" "OK, she doesn't much like hospitals." "I see, uh - good night"

Well Sheryl seems to be doing much better!

23 October 2000

Sheryl passed her "swallow test" - no leaks where the stomach was attached to the throat. A few more tubes and hoses were removed and she will be moved to the Step-down ICU today. That's a less intensive ICU. A few more days and she should be home! If nothing goes wrong.

24 October 2000

Sheryl is being moved today from the Stepdown ICU to a regular room. Solid foods haven't been tried yet, but liquids are no problem. She still has so much sedative in her system that she babbles quit a bit, but the improvement is nothing shot of amazing. Things are looking good - so far.

25 October 2000

She's back in ICU again, it seems her lungs were filling with mucus, and her blood oxygen levels dropped to 17 - they should be in the 90s. There are also indications that her epilepsy may have returned. She has been seizure free for several years.

26 October 2000

Once again, Sheryl is doing fine and has been moved to a regular room. Once again she will be home in a couple or three days - if nothing goes wrong.

29 October 2000

Today Sheryl was discharged from the hospital, she's still weak - but she's home. I, and her little dog, are happy again.

3 November 2000

Sheryl seems to be recovering OK; she is still very weak and sore - and of course all the incisions are itching.

5 November 2000

No change, except some of the soreness is moving toward pain. We return for followup tuesday - 7 November - so I will have an update posted shortly after that.

8 November 2000

Her post-op checkup has been postponed until 13 November. This must be good, as other patients had been bumped for Sheryl when she needed to get in; the biopsy report must have been pretty good. Sheryl still has pain - particularly when there is any gas buildup - it puts pressure on her innards. All the exterior incisions appear to be healing nicely, and she is eating anything and everything.

14 November 2000

Our visit to the doctor wasn't very informative. Her regular doctor had an emergency surgery, so we saw an intern - he gave her an exam and filled out the forms with her current symptoms and vitals, removed the rest of her staples and sutures. Nothing was available about the newest pathology reports, so it must not be bad news. She's scheduled for another X-ray and had more blood drawn.

16 November 2000

Sheryl's back in the hospital again. The increasing pain she has had the last couple days is from an obstructed bowel. The barium swallow X-ray showed an obstruction, but not what it was. It also showed a lot of debris in her stomach, but not what it was. It seems never ending.

18 November 2000

She had an endoscopic exam yesterday; it allowed the surgeon to remove what was backed up, but did not show the cause of the obstruction.

19 November 2000

We just received the word on the biopsy of her lung. The spots were cancerous, but they removed it all at the time. Sheryl will have to undergo more chemo to make sure all the cancer is gone. "She should be home in a couple days."

20 November 2000

Sheryl is back home. They still haven't found the cause of the problem, but are still looking. It seems to be under control for now. She has to remain on a diet of clear fluids, and has medication to stimulate nerve repair, stool softeners, and pain killers - to include a patch.

23 November 2000

She seems to be doing better again; she is now up to soft foods and plenty of liquids. We're going to her sister's for Thanksgiving Dinner. She'll be able to eat a little of the mashed potatoes, stuffing, and a very small piece of pie. Being around other people and getting out of the apartment should do wonders. Yesterday she had enough energy to do some laundry - it helped me a lot, and she needs the exercise.

27 November 2000

Thanks giving dinner went OK, but I think she overdid it some. All of her favorite foods were there, and while she had only small portions - of each - it added up. She avoided the turkey but went for the ham, and loaded up on deviled eggs. She felt OK Friday, but has been in more pain from Saturday on, and vomited this morning. If she's not feeling better tomorrow, I take her back to the hospital.

29 November 2000

I take her in today. The pain, even with the morphine patch and dilaudid pills, is bad. The pain seems to be in the area of her medport and j-tube, but as pain can radiate from it's source to other areas, it's hard to tell. She may be concentrating on them because she's just plain tired of having tubes hanging out of her body.

1 December 2000

Her pain medication has been adjusted and it seems to be under control. She is once again chomping at the bit to get back to a regular diet, and it's hard to rein her in but I don't want her to jump in to quick. In this case I definitely agree with the doctors in gradualism. The increase in appetite is a good sign, however.

7 December 2000

Up and down, up and down. Sheryl is vomiting again, has lost her appetite again (Yesterday she had a can of "Boost" for breakfast, another for lunch, a small bowl of spaghetti for supper and an ice cream bar. Not enough), and has absolutely no energy whatsoever. She makes it to the couch in the morning, and back to bed in the evening. I know that part of the sluggishness is due to depression; she blames herself for our financial problems. I had to quit work to care for her, and am now out of money and out of plastic. I have no choice but to return to work as a cab driver so I will have the flexibility needed to get her to doctor appointments and pick up prescriptions. I hate to leave her all day, but it might actually help her. She doesn't even get up for a glass of water she waits for me to do it for her. She's able, but not willing. She doesn't like the cab driver job because of the danger involved - top of the local and national "hit" lists.

9 December 2000

Yesterday was my first day back on the job. The job went fairly uneventful, but I had to take time out a couple times for Sheryl. Good thing I have a cell phone. I also had to knock off three hours early only put in nine hours, the normal shift is twelve. I have to put in a full shift today, no matter what - well, within reason. I'll take off tomorrow for house cleaning.

She seemed better when I returned home. She managed to drink a can of boost and eat a sugar cookie.

11 December 2000

She had a much better day today and did some light house cleaning and laundry. She actually appears cheerful and is eating a sandwich and pudding, and had a pot pie for lunch.

13 December 2000

We just returned from the chief doctor. Sheryl's weight is up to 128, and she's looking better than ever. He told us she could discontinue the feeding tube at night for two weeks, and if she maintains her weight - or even gains - the J tube can be removed. Great news, she'll be able to sleep on her left side again, and I'll save $135 a month on the rental for the kangaroo pump.

She's got her ambition and drive back for now and is doing more around the home. I hope she'll start walking her dog again, she needs the exercise; her muscle tone is nearly nonexistent.

14 December 2000

We just had a phone call from her chief surgeon. "Something" was found on her last X ray, and he has called a conference of her doctors. He wants to move her next appointment up.

18 December 2000

Sheryl has been down the last couple days - vomiting and not eating. I think much of it is worry about what was found on the latest Xray. She's been through a lot during the last year, hope she can hang in there. I don't know how much more she can handle.

24 December 2000

Sheryl is still having a hard time sleeping, and her stomach remains upset; she is eating very little and doing very little. Tomorrow she will be going over to our grandson's other grandparents' house for Christmas. I hope that being around other people will cheer her up and that she will eat something.

An interesting, but not encouraging factoid:

In this country, the American Cancer Society predicts that there will be about 12,300 new cases of esophageal cancer in the year 2000. About 12,100 people will die of the disease. This cancer is about three times more common among men than among women and three times more common among African Americans than among whites. Some countries such as Iran, northern China, India, and southern Africa have rates that are 10-100 times higher than that of the United States.

27 December 2000

There is good news and bad news. The bad news is that the cancer has spread to her lungs, liver, kidneys and lymph nodes. The good news is that the tumors are really small. When the doctor told us this, it took a major effort to keep my facial expression neutral. Sheryl looked at me and said, "they can put it in remission, like Pat's, right?" Yes, that's what it means, honey.

28 December 2000

The chemo doctor did not have any good news. The treatment he had used before the surgery was the strongest they have, and it didn't get rid of the cancer. He was not hopeful that anything else would help much, but would go ahead with additional chemo if she wanted. She wanted. New cancer therapies are being discovered nearly every month, and if she lives long enough with an acceptable quality of life, there might be something coming out that will cure her. We can only hope and pray. Sheryl is not about to give up yet.

30 December 2000

Yesterday was a wasted day for me; I cleared all of $3. I couldn't keep my mind on work, so I wasn't very competitive and cab driving is very competitive. I guess I was wallowing in self pity. What will I do when Sheryl is gone? We always had this dream of growing old together; now I see myself growing old alone - and possibly reverting to the way I was before we married. How will I care for her little dog? The Booger won't make it if he has to be alone for 12 hours a day. I'm too old to start looking for another wife - it took me 15 years to find her, and I won't settle for second best! How long will I have to watch her live in pain, or drugged up enough not to feel it? How long do we have left, and when it gets bad again, will she be OK while I'm working? I can't afford to quit again. Our apartment is a small one bedroom place, but it will be terribly empty. Hell, I'm starting to cry again. It's hard to see the keyboard. I hate and detest self pity, I should not be thinking of myself but of her.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

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